Internal shorts within very high power density batteries (e.g., lithium-ion batteries) represent a continuing issue. These internal shorts can produce rising temperatures and pressures in the battery cells in which they occur. Unfortunately, isolating the battery from external circuit connections does not eliminate the electrochemical current produced by internal shorts within the battery cells and, hence, external circuit protection is not sufficient to eliminate this problem. Therefore, an approach to reduce the presence of internal shorts and, thereby, mitigate the problems arising from electrochemical reactions driven by these internal shorting conditions is needed.